The Indianapolis journal., 1887-10-05

wlnd1ness to honest palnstaklng. MIR. BoecnerS o
eloquence was like the fuency OF the Atlantic
a constant motion, a mysterious depth, in
finite caress infinite assault Or our
sainted friend it may be truly said that his
thoughts were greater than his language. Every
word had it's own tint of intellectual beauty;
every sentence Its own freight of rich meaning
every sermon its gallery of pictures or its galaxy
of stars.
His words were innumerable because his
thoughts were countless. We have had great
preachers in England. such as Donne, the poet
preacher. of whom Bishop Lightfoot says:
Nothing can be more direct or more real than
his eager. impetuous eloquence when he speaks
OF God, of redemption of heaven, and of the
bounsifulness of divine love;' such as Isaac Bar
row, of whom DIR. WAGE says: He emerges
from every Sermon a victor over some form OF
sin or error, with which he has been in mortal
combat such Jeremy Taylor, whom
Coieridge calls "the most eloquent of divlnes-if
l said of men, Cicero would forgive me, and De-
mosthenes nod assent" such as sChalmers, of
whom Canning said: "The Tartan beats us ALL !"
We are proud of such men. with pride which
is based But Mr.. Beecher stood
apart from them by the very fact that whilst
they purchased their pulpit eminence by great
expenditure of effort, he evidently free
born. He toiled not, did he spin. yet the
ornate pomp and classic unity of others were
not to be compared with his artless simplicity.
Happily, this panegyric can be tested by the
sermons themselves; there they stand in thirty
volumes; look where you may, you will find
that not even the printer. that cruelest extin-
guisher of pulpit eloquence, has been able to
1t is not much to say that to many preachers
Mr.. Beecher's method gave a new conception of
the possibility of preaching. The whole idea
of the sermon enlarged. A sermon was no
longer an analysis of words, a dreary creation
and a distribution of particulars, pedantc dis
play of learned ignorance, onslaught (trem-
endous in feebleness) upon absent doubters and
dead infidels; was it plous whine, inof-
fensive platitude, an infantile homily, a
dlment for delicate souls. It was amazing
combination of philosophy. poetry, emotion and
hmm hyfR RiacY all tiara in Chric ard
all intended to bring men into right relations
with the Father. The sermon was not an object
to be gazed at. but a gospel to be received, di-
vine gospel addressed to the sinful, the broken
hearted. the lost the hopeless. 1t was a mes
sage from heaven; message for all lands all
times, all souls; a Ecessage whose moral majesty
lost nothing account of it's human sympathy,
but gained the more by reason of its tender
tears and its eager importantly. In Mr..
Beecher's hands the sermon never affrighted
men; never froze men; never repelled men. It
the loveliness of love. the very heart Of
sympathy, the very condescension of God. Nor.
though so rich in sentiment, was it ever weak.
Behind all the tears there was a reason that had
adopted its conclusions in the daylight; philos-
ophy that weighed evidence in scales of right
eousness; intellectual audacity that tried the
spirits, whether they were of God. 1t was
fire that Mr.. Beecher was awestruck.
but as soon as he recognized the di-
vinity OF the voice which addressed him he put
off his shoes, uncovered his head, and listened
with the reverence of reason and the holy jeal-
ousy of love. In Mr.. Beecher's sentiment there
was no feebleuess. His were the tears of a
strong man; his were the sympathies of a lion
heart. Those who magnify dogma above senti-
ment regret the commission of dogma from his
sermons. l have not been struck by any such
omission. l prefer the living body to the CHASTITY
skeleton. In the living body the skeleton. as to
its anatomy is covered but every boneis there
there, not to alright but to help all the offices
his duties. but they not in the pulpit. To
know God to love God. to accept Christ to servo
Christ, to magnify Christ. to grow in grace. in
knowledge and in truth; to be pure, wise. gentle.
sympathetic were the glowing dogmas which
gave this immortal ministry its
strength and glory. Yet there were
minor lines in the Beccher sermon which a con-
plete criticism must recognize. The sermon
was often alive with the eager spirit of the day.
and came sometimes near to being a Sunday
editorial upon the supreme question of the mo-
ment. Then it accepted the felicitous assistance
of humor. and grieved those who know not the
uses to which irony, and satire. and banter may
be put even on Sunday. The humor was often
in the tone, often in the luminous smile. often
in the eloquent eye. It was like the ministry Of
dew in nature-it added something 10 the rarest
beauty and multiplied the sunfash that fell on
1t like a blessing. God himself made Henry
Ward Beecher a humorist, gave him taste for
comedy, and enriched him with the grace of
playfuness. He prayed the better that he
laughed SO WELL His tears were the tenderer
because his humor was SO epon taneous and
abundant.
MR. BEEcHER IN ENGLAND.
All this we had known about Mr. Beecher
merely by public and private report. for we
tones of his voice. But our opportunity came;
in 1863 MIR. Beecher visited England, being then
in his fifty first year. 1t is not my intention
follow him in his public exposition of the princi-
Piles which underlay the civil war-from London
to Manchester and Glasgow, and Edin burgh aud
to fix attention for . moment
upon one particulor occasion as illustrative of
the main features of his British campaign. I
was then located in Manchester and one of
the vice presidents OF the Union and Emaucipa-
ton Society. On Friday. Oct. g. 1863. Mr..
Hail. Manchester. Great was the preparation
made for that memorable occasion. An organ
lied opposition had taken possession of part of
the hall: six thousand people crowded the noble
The only self possessed man
in the seething mass was MIR. Beecher himself.
There he stood, when his turn came to speak,
about five feet six or seven inches high. ruddy
and of fair countenance, abundant brown hair
falling back from head which indicated high 4
reason, fine imagination, noble moral power,
arge, solemn eyes that calmly took in the whole
animated occasion, and contour which alto
yether betokened dominance, capacity and pas
sion we'll controlled. 1t was evident that he was
going to read his speech, for he unfolded a large
scroll of manuscript and proceeded to lay it
1pon the desk. MIR Chairman" said he, and
instantly the hiss and groan OF opposition were
heard. ''Mr Chairman" and again the angry
storm mingled with the enthusiastic and rever-
,erating cheers. In a moment Mr. Beecher's
whole aspect changed. He was determined to
mount the whirlwiud and direct the Storm"
10, advancing still nearer the front of the plat
orm-I see him. I hear him now-he exclaimed:
MY friends. will have all ight session but
we will be heard
That suited the English temper, for it is
splendid temper when downright fair play is in
question. and the whole audience broke out into
p thunder of applause which plainly said,
Heard you shall be, though the enemy be
lurled into the murky night"
The MS was folded up, put into the
pocket, and for two hours the inspired orator
spoke, expounded. appealed fought, and con-
luered, and then sat down in such storm of
cheers as probably cannot be heard out of Eng
and. When Sheridan concluded his immortal
speech in the trial of Warren Hastings. Edmund
Burke said there was no department of rhetoric
which could not be illustrated by splendid
quotations from that brilliant harangue. 1t
would be hardly too much to say the
,ame of the speeches of Mr.. Beecher
Turing his visit to England in 1863
= Could his compatriots know what Mr.
Beecher did for America in that unparalleled
IA IL